The move by MTV marks its first entry in the social gaming space, the company said it will develop social games based on original IP (intellectual property) as well as shows and characters from Nickelodeon and its other brands, with the first game to launch in the third quarter.  MTV will also use Social Express to launch a publishing platform for independent game developers.

"Social gaming is one of the biggest drivers of the explosive growth in social media – it’s fun, it’s engaging, and it’s shareable," said Judy McGrath, Chairman and CEO of MTV Networks. 

"Social Express brings us strong experience and know-how in this burgeoning space, which we’ll supercharge with the IP and scale of Nickelodeon and other MTV Networks brands to create great new social gaming experiences for our fans and cool tools for independent developers as well."

Social Express will be integrated into Nickelodeon Digital, with Social Express co-founder and CEO Tony Espinoza overseeing social gaming strategy and development as Vice President and General Manager of Social Gaming for MTV Networks’ Nickelodeon Kids & Family Group.  Neil Souza, co-founder of Social Express and FoulPlay Media, will be Vice President of Technology, Social Games. Both will report to Dave Williams, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Games, Nickelodeon Kids & Family Group.

In May, MTV Networks game sites attracted more than 22 million unique visitors and ranked as the most popular destination in the online game category, according to comScore.
 

The Scrubber is a custom video player that allows advertisers to insert product icons into the playback timer and highlight various items as the video plays. The unit is designed to be interactive, relevant and non-interruptive to the user.

Jason Witt,
Senior VP & GM
of Digital Fusion
MTV Networks

"Whether it’s messaging, design or delivery, Target is tops at innovating in marketing while maintaining a strong focus on the consumer," said Jason Witt, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Digital Fusion, MTV Networks.

"With Target, we’ve developed an entirely new way to deliver retail messages through short-form online video, and the result is better advertising with greater impact."

The Scrubber works by scrolling over various product icons as a video plays. Each time the Scrubber scrolls over a product icon, a message overly appears and invites users to get more information or purchase the item. The Target unit was custom-designed to incorporate the retailer’s red and white colors, and the Scrubber ball takes the shape of the Target bullseye logo.

The Scrubber will feature products relevant to MTV Networks’ audience, for example on MTV.com it will highlight Target’s line of entertainment and fashion products.

The Scrubber is one of a number of campaigns co-authored by MTVN’s Digital Fusion team, an online advertising and marketing unit that across all MTV Networks’ properties.

Now, for better or for worse, parenting advice isn’t going to get interspersed with episodes from "The Real World 413" or whatever else MTV is showing these days.  Instead, MTV Networks’s ownership of Nickelodeon will come into play, and its ParentsConnect community site is set to gain the most.

Babunga’s network, which includes BabyNamesWorld, WikiParenting, and 3dpregnancy, will be integrated into ParentsConnect.  "We are already a leader online with parents and families because of Nickjr.com, the number-one preschool-parenting website," pointed out Steve Youngwood, the executive vice president of Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids & Family Group.  "[W]ith the acquisition of Babunga’s family of sites and its integration into Nick’s ParentsConnect, we are also now leaders with expecting parents."

Mike Shields highlights one more relevant point.  "As part of the venture, the company will sell ads on a handful of smaller, non-Nick-owned sites, including ParentPreviews.com and Smartmomma.com, mirroring a recent trend wherein traditional media players aim to sell ads across the Web’s long tail."

Nickelodeon, MTV Networks, Viacom – trace the corporate path as far back as you like.  Wherever you wind up, though, it looks like the company is doing some long-term planning.

The online video companies include Dailymotion, GoFish, iMeem, MeeVee and Veoh Networks. Viacom chief executive Philippe Dauman told Reuters, "We’re at a phase of the development of the Internet, when we are seeing the accumulation of a lot of incremental changes that makes it easier for consumers and users to navigate information and entertainment online."

MTV Networks will offer clips and long form content from 10 cable and broadband networks including Comedy Central, MTV, VH1 and Nickelodeon. The online video deals include off-site embedding.

" We believe in a targeted approach to online video syndication, which means working with select partners who value our content and have the ability to build deep and interactive experiences around it," said Greg Clayman, Executive Vice President, Digital Distribution and Business Development, MTVN.